Mission: Retirement
by FatManDan
Summary: What if KP and Inspector Gadget had taken place in the same universe? What if GJ were the people behind Inspector Gadget? A cross over that's been rattling around in my skull for a long time now. Will Du is on a mission to bring an old man back home.
1. Chapter 1

** Chapter 1**

"Alpha Operative Will Du reporting for duty, Ma'am!"

Global Justice's top agent stood at attention and saluted with absolute precision before Dr. Director.

The woman in question looked up from the binder she was browsing through and languidly returned the salute.

"At ease, Will. Have a seat." She motioned to the chair opposite her office desk.

"Yes, Ma'am!"

"You know, you don't _have_ to stand attention and salute me _every_ time. You've been with Global Justice long enough and you rank high enough to be at least a little more relaxed."

"But it's the regulations, Ma'am." Will Du seemed genuinely mystified by his superior's attitude.

"All right. Anyway, it's good to have you back. I take it there were no problems for you to work as a parole officer?"

"I filed a complete report as per regulation standards."

"Of course you did." She said with a little sigh. "What is it with you and regulations and rules?"

"Wha...but...?" Will looked like a puppy who's just been kicked by it's owner for no good reason.

"It was a rhetorical question, agent. It's not supposed to have an answer!" Betty Director threw her arms up in frustration. "Forget about it, already. We have something more important to deal with and I need my top agent on this."

Hearing himself called the top agent of GJ calmed Will's hurt feelings.

"At your service, Ma'am!" He said eagerly.

She patted the binder she had been browsing.

"These are old documents, unfortunately not digitized and entered into the database since they've spent the last three decades or so on a shelf in the basement.

"Three decades?"

"Yes. This was before you joined us. Heck, I hadn't even made Alpha Operative myself then."

Will Du thought for a few moments.

"This was during the Quimby-directorate, right?"

"Yes, and that's the problem. Well, part of it at least. You see there were some, shall we say, irregularities during that time."

"Like...what?"

Dr. Director leaned back in her chair and sat silent for a few moments before answering.

"Like a highly unorthodox approach to taking on organized opposition and use of outside assets to create a...well, for lack of better words, a super law enforcement officer. And then some very poorly documented and dubious processes to control and support this particular officer."

There was another pause as Dr. Director closed the binder, pushed it towards Will and then went on:

"Agent Du, that special officer is still out there, somewhere. He's operating in the field with no controller that we know of, no orders coming in. Nothing. He could be doing anything and he should have gone into retirement ten years ago.

We don't even know how to reach him because all the contacts ever made were done personally by Director Quimby and all were rigged to self destruct and all the radio channels we have managed to dig up are all dead by now."

Will Du lost his composure for a moment.

"You mean he turned against us?!" He said, aghast.

"What?! Heavens, no! He's just Rogue, he's no Renegade! Don't be so morbid, Will."

Will let out a relieved sigh.

"Thank goodness."

"So I need you to bring this one back. Alive. This thing, " She pointed to the binder "has gone on far too long and the less said about it the better. He's one of our men and we have a duty to look out for our fellow agents, don't you agree?"

"Yes, Ma'am!"

"Good. This case is yours, Will. All yours. Global Justice doesn't need to be embarrassed with the budget hearings coming up and all. I trust you to be able to handle this efficiently."

Will Du jumped to his feet, snapped to attention and saluted again.

"Consider the matter solved already, Ma'am!"

Dr. Director dismissed him and sent him on his way to prepare for the mission

Some time later, Will Du was in his quarters, reading up on what little there was to find about the man he was supposed to bring in.

Apparently some sort of early cyborg experiment, made by someone named Dr. Shlickstein and an, as yet, unnamed assistant.

Then there were hints of some sort of biological or genetic 'construct' whatever that meant, and a 'handler'.

There were names here and there. Apparently parts of the documentation were missing or intentionally destroyed.

Still, he had a very good notion where to start.

Metro City wasn't too far away and if the man he was looking for had been in law enforcement, and as heavily cyber augmented as the documents said, surely city hall would have some records of him at hand.

This would probably be over in a few days.

After all, how hard could it be to find this Inspector John Gadget?


	2. Chapter 2

** Chapter 2**

The old man woke up.

He was cold.

He had never really adjusted to sleeping behind dumpsters and summer was fading quickly in Metro City, each night colder than the other.

He was confused. Things were so hard to remember and put in place since Brain had gone.

The dog had been old when he passed away, yet his absence was sorely felt.

And Penny. Penny was gone too, but she was alive and well. Safe and sound. That was a good thing. For some reason, he never had any trouble remembering her and that was something he was thankful for. He figured he should go visit her some day. But there were so many things to do. So very much.

The old man couldn't exactly recall, but he was sure they had to be important or else he wouldn't still be out in the field.

He had been on constant duty for...

Well, he didn't remember anymore, but it was a long time.

He was certain he was on duty because he hadn't received the clearance code to go off duty.

And Director Quimby didn't make mistakes, he wouldn't be head of Global Justice if he did.

Of course, the old man couldn't remember what Quimby looked like, these days, but that didn't change anything.

One thing, at least, was absolutely certain: Inspector Gadget was always on duty.

And since he hadn't got any messages from Quimby and Global Justice for such a long time he had to assume that his last mission was still in progress.

So inspector John Gadget kept looking for signs of M.A.D., unaware of that organizations collapse many years ago, because no one had told him and he had forgotten to ask.

It wasn't like he had a choice in the matter anyway.

Inside his head there were old and brutish computer programs wired to, what had once been, a healthy brain, their imperatives as unyielding as the old man's still untainted idealism.

The voices inside his head told him to soldier on.

And so, soldier on he did.

He made sure the patch of gauze was still in place on the right side of his face. The artificial skin had begun to deteriorate quite some time ago, after an accident he had trouble recalling. The sight of metal through the holes in his skin seemed to upset people and being a kind and considerate person he did his best to cover it.

Inspector Gadget straightened his filthy, old trenchcoat, adjusted his battered hat and took a deep breath. Inside him the filters cleansed the air of the smog and dust of the city. At least some of his systems were still operating at full capacity.

He stepped out of the alley and started walking down the street.

Inspector Gadget was on his way to the charity-run soup kitchen when a police cruiser pulled up by him and the driver rolled down the window.

"Hey, Inspector. How're you doing?"

Gadget tried to remember the officer's name but failed.

"Hi, officer. I'm getting by." The cheery tone couldn't really fool anyone but the policeman didn't want to hurt the old man's feelings by calling him a liar.

"Look, it's getting colder, are you sure us guys could set you up somewhere? We've got a few old safe houses for witnesses that you could choose from."

"Oh no, it's no problem. I have a place to stay." Gadget assured the police officer. The latter seemed unconvinced.

"Really?"

"Oh yes, trust me. I..uh...I just don't remember where it is, right now."

The man in the black-and-white sighed.

"All right, all right. Tell you what, though. I'll talk to the folks over at the homeless shelter over on 44th Street and see if they can get you a bed at least for tonight, OK?. You know where that is, right?"

"Sure do. I've got plenty of maps in here." Gadget tapped his head. "Some of them are kind of old but 44th Street hasn't moved, has it?"

"Nope, it's still there. You take care now, old-timer."

"I always do and thanks officer...um..."

"O'hara."

"Yes of course, _now_ I remember. Haha, sorry about that."

"No problem, old-timer. You take care now."

"Will do!"

Inspector Gadget saluted his unaugmented colleague as the police cruiser drove off.

Then he went on his way to the soup kitchen.

It was probably just around the corner.


	3. Chapter 3

** Chapter 3**

When he arrived in Metro City, Will Du had demanded and expected the full cooperation of the local authorities. After all, he was Global Justice's top agent.

Instead he slammed into a massive wall of red tape only moments after he had stated his requests and past the red tape the proverbial 'thin blue line' was forming.

There was nothing formally wrong with the paperwork he had to go through. What Will failed to understand were the reasons why his problems began to stack up in such a hurry.

He had simply walked in, shown the police commissioner his GJ identification papers and asked to see all and any files on Inspector John Gadget.

The fact that he had been his usual, abrasive and demanding self, and that it had made the police commissioner dislike him right away, escaped Will Du completely. After all, he was doing it by the books, how could anyone possibly disapprove of that?

Because it was Global Justice business and he had been ordered to be discreet, Will Du had also insisted that the commissioner and the man in charge of the files sign a nondisclosure waiver. That did little to enamour Du to the MCPD.

Since no answers to any questions on what was going on were allowed to be given to anyone outside the document storage or the commissioner's office, rumors began to spread among the other police officers. Some facts had managed to slip into the rumor mill: Some outside guy was looking for Inspector Gadget and the guy was a jerk.

"I don't understand why I can't have a copy of the files and take them to my hotel. This can be done under the Hammer Act of 1998!" Will complained.

"Yes, that is true but the very same act states that local legislation takes precedence if the situation so merits." The clerk smirked condescendingly. "And will you look at that? Seems the commissioner just made such a call and signed this new regulation that says that documents may only be studied under supervision of the head clerk (that would be me) and in the reading rooms of the archives. And since you do not have a warrant from the United States Supreme Court, something which might take years to get, I might add, well..." The man shrugged. "Looks like you'll be sitting here to do your homework."

"But that new regulation didn't even exist when I got here!"

"Those are the breaks, buddy. Here we do things by the book. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

Will Du ground his teeth in frustration but swallowed his pride.

"No, I don't."

"One more thing."

"What?"

"For you, coffee is 50 cents per cup." The clerk grinned. "Since you're not an employee, just a visitor."

"Fine."

Hours turned into days. The bureaucrats and clerks insisted that Will had to go through the books in chronological and alphabetical order and return each binder to it's place on the shelves before getting a new one.

Every objection from Will was always met with the same response: "Do it by the book or not at all."

Right from the start, one pattern was very clear: Inspector Gadget had been working non-stop during the three previous decades. Nothing major, just being out there, in the field all day, every day. A bank robbery foiled here, a pimp beating a hooker stopped there and so on and so forth.

Judging by the reports, the old man was getting tired as the years ground on. The things he did became increasingly more small time and the intervals between the good deeds became longer.

"_Jeez, he's really working himself down to the bone. What kind of director treats his operatives like this? Not even giving the guy the option to stand down, that is...out of order." _Will thought. He had read somewhere that a good general should 'covet his soldiers like pearls and not spend them like water'. Well, it seemed to Will that Inspector John Gadget was getting spent and it was amazing that he'd lasted even this long. It was obvious that Gadget, and by extension, Will Du, were running out of time.

What was almost as interesting, was what was _not_ in the files.

Neither the 'handler' nor the 'construct' was mentioned.

Or were they?

In a few of the very earliest police reports in the Metro City there was a name: Penelope Gadget.

But very soon any further reports involving her ceased. Why was that? Where had she gone and what had happened?

This obviously merited further investigation, as soon as Will Du had located the Inspector.

"_One thing at a time. I'm still on top of this situation." _

After all the sorting through reports, looking at maps and assembling information, Will Du had a pretty good idea on what parts of Metro City were most frequented by Inspector Gadget.

He got up from his chair and stretched.

It was time to leave these stuffy archives and hit the streets.

"_Places to go and people to meet."_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

While Will Du was slashing through a jungle of red tape and working through literally tons of reports, the MCPD were looking out for their favourite Inspector, unwittingly doing the old man a disfavour.

The besy of intentions are sometimes not enough, unfortunately.

"I'm not saying we should do anything. That guy in the archives is connected and that's never a good thing. He's got to be up to no good."

"How do you know?"

"Well, what other reason could he have for putting a lid on everything he does? No word goes in or out. It's just blind luck that we picked up that he's looking for Inspector G. My bet is that guy is out to cause trouble."

"Eh, he's a jerk. I don't mind throwing a few wrenches into his works, just for the hell of it."

"You're a spiteful man, Callahan."

"But I'm a good cop, Foley."

"That you are."

The police officers drove to a small corner store where they knew Gadget had foiled a robbery the day before. From the store owner they heard that the inspector probably was in the nearby park since he had overheard some customers talking about the man in question.

Sure enough, when officers Callahan and Foley arrived at the park, they spotted the old man on a bench. Next to him was a woman who, despite the onsetting autumn chill, was dressed quite provocatively. One of Metro City's many prostitutes.

"Hey, Inspector Gadget, just the man we were looking for!" Foley called out.

The woman looked at the two uniformed cops with some disapproval.

By the looks of it, she was helping Gadget with getting the gauze patch back in place.

"Why don't you go for a walk, lady?"

"I'm not going anywhere. I know all about Good Cop - Bad Cop, and this here" She patted Gadget's gloved hand. "Is the only good cop I ever met. Not gonna leave him just like that. Not with you guys around."

The old inspector raised his hands in a placating gesture.

"Easy, everybody. There is no need to get upset. Right?" He looked from the police officers to the woman next to him.

She gave an annoyed sigh and the police officers pretty much did the same.

"Okay, she can stay. What're you doing here anyway, lady?"

The woman frowned.

"Mind your own business. All I have to say is I got into some trouble." She nodded towards Gadget. "I was lucky there was a real policeman nearby to hear me shout for help. Unlike you guys, he actually helps people."

"Knock it off, alright?"

"So, what'd you guys want to see me about?" Gadget said, trying to defuse the tense situation.

Tempers cooled down a little and the police officers went on to explain why they had sought out the old bionic inspector.

"There's this guy uptown who's looking for you. he's got some serious pull too. Made the Chief put the lid on everything pretty much as soon as he got a chance."

"Wowsers! Are you sure he isn't some kind of Internal Affairs guy then?"

"Nope, we had an audit about a year ago." Callahan said.

"As far as us boys in blue know he's connected to some sort of organization. Maybe CIA or something. Anyway, long story short, we figured we should let you know someone's on your trail."

"Thanks for the headsu-Nngh!"

The police officers and the prostitute were startled by the sudden, strained noise from Inspector Gadget as well as by the odd twitch his face made.

"Whoa! Are you alright?"

"Is he having a seizure? What's going on?!"

Inside Gadget's head the programmes kicked in, their demands irrefutable and uncompromising.

"_[Unknown pursuer. Potentially hostile. 1: Ensure safety of civilians by relocating. 2: Avoid direct contact/confrontation until further information is available. 3: Return to base for information and support. End.]"_

"I...I'm alright. It was just a..." He looked at the three worried faces. "Just a prompt. Wowsers! It's been awhile since I had one of those hit me." Gadget paused, realizing the others didn't understand what he was talking about. "Uh, I have to get out of town. Sorry. Something really important just came up."

"Are you sure?" Foley asked. "You look kind of, you know, stressed."

"Don't worry, officer. Inspector Gadget is on the case." John smiled and got to his feet with some help from the friendly prostitute. "Thanks, dear."

Gadget scratched the back of his head, a slight look of confusion coming over his face.

"Uh, does anyone know the way to the railroad station? I think my maps are off again."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Frustrated

Disappointed.

Impatient.

All these described Will Du's mood during the long drive north.

Frustrated at the lack of progress he was making.

Disappointed at the recalcitrance displayed by the Metro City PD despite Will's every attempt to ensure they would not get into trouble by following regulations and procedures to the letter.

Impatient because he knew time was running out.

Every day the trail was growing colder and so was the season.

By now his fingers were beating an impatient rhythm on the steering wheel as the line of cars waiting admission into Canada only slowly grew shorter as the customs officers plied their trade, once car at a time.

"_This is taking too long!"_ Will thought. "_I need to get going!"_

He remembered that he actually held international authority to pull rank on the Canadian customs officers and that he could just breeze past. For a brief moment, in his frustrated state considered doing it.

Just forming the idea and considering it in earnest, if only for a brief moment gave Will a slight shock.

The customs people were doing their duty and, had Will used the authority vested in him, they would have gotten into trouble, with lots of extra paperwork, explanations and so on. Simply because Will hadn't felt like waiting another hour or so.

"_I can't believe this job is getting to me. Why is it getting to me? I've been in a rush and forced to wait before, so what is different this time?"_

He sat in his car, waited and pondered this. Eventually he was admitted into Canada.

As he drove off, northward bound he looked in the rear view mirror, seeing USA disappear behind him. Somewhere, south of there was a man who needed help. Who needed Will's help, because there was no one else who could help him. It dawned on Will Du that the reason this mission was getting to him was perhaps simpler than he had anticipated.

"_Maybe it's because it's not about me? Perhaps it never was and never was intended to be."_

For the first time in his fairly young, but decidedly eventful live, Will was forced to examine his own motivations and emotions. And it had taken an old man that Will had never even met, to make it happen.

The roads grew increasingly narrower and more winding, the further into the Canadian wilderness his mission brought him. Miles upon uncountable miles of woods surrounded him by now. The rugged terrain and the grey skies of early autumn mingled with rising mists and low clouds, bringing a sense of solitude and isolation to the scenery.

When he considered who he was driving to visit, his one lead to finding John Gadget, he grew more and more certain that the isolation was very much intentional.

It was early evening and the gloom of night lurked in the shadows among the trees, waiting to claim the world. Had he been prone to flights of fancy, Will would have been unsettled by the situation and imaginary dangers. Instead he parked the car by the side of the main road. A dirt road lead up a steep hill and a single, solitary mailbox stood by it's side. Alpha Operative Will do of Global Justice squinted in the dusk, reading the name on the side of the mailbox.

"Penelope Gadget."


	6. Chapter 6

** Chapter Six**

The journey had been a long one.

Hitch hiking wasn't easy these days. After all, who'd want to pick up a ragged, fairly unwashed old man standing by the roadside?

In the end he'd done it the old way and managed to jump on an old freight train. At least the railroads remained where they were supposed to.

John missed the special car he'd gotten from Global Justice all those years ago. He wondered what had become of it.

"_Probably dismantled for parts. It was ready for the scrap heap at the end."_ He thought. "_Kind of like me."_

Ready to be scrapped or not, Inspector John Gadget had finally reached the goal to which the directives and programs had guided him, the old Global Justice HQ. It had been easier to walk by the side of the road.

The cracked and broken asphalt was simply too uncomfortable to walk on with shoes as old and worn as John's were.

It took some effort to get the heavy door open. There was still enough power in the old finger-mounted laser to allow John to cut through the padlock.

Inside it was dark but to a man with bionic eyes this was hardly a problem.

He had reached the goal and found it empty. Cleaned out. Decommissioned.

The place that had seen him reborn as the ultimate law enforcement operative was now merely a dusty, underground labyrinth, here and there littered with old pieces of abandoned furniture.

John wandered deeper into the complex and, acting on an impulse, he called out.

"Hello? Anyone?"

There was no answer. Of course there wasn't.

He picked up tiny heat signatures on the infrared, scurrying away from him at the sound of his footsteps.

Mice.

As empty as the place was, the programs refused to acknowledge this. Like an extra layer on his vision, simple outlines of things that weren't there appeared.

Computer banks, accumulators, up- and download terminals, even soda machines and arms lockers were crudely drawn in over reality, in garish, annoying colours. As if obsolete maps and incomplete memories could conjure a time and a place long gone.

Inspector Gadget sat down on an old office chair and sighed.

"_What now?"_

There was some comfort that the voices in his head had shut up now. They had made him do as they wanted and now he could finally relax. Try to think.

So someone was looking for him, right?

Could that person find him here? This was supposed to be a secret installation. Or at least it _had _been.

Why was it so hard to figure things out? Thoughts became jumbled and mixed up for no reason.

And if someone was looking, who? Why?

Throughout his career the one recurring enemy had been M.A.D. Was it possible that some old member of that organization had resurfaced? Out to settled an old score?

Maybe.

And if so, John simply had to assume that his unknown pursuer would find his way here sooner or later.

Inspector Gadget got to his feet.

He cracked metallic knuckles, the scraping sound of steel against steel echoing through the concrete hallways.

If M.A.D. hadn't given up, well neither had Inspector John Gadget.

When John said he was always on duty, he meant every word of it.

The old man had his back against the wall.

There would be, there _could_ be no more running.

Not this time.

"Bring it on."


End file.
